This activity uses Wordle.net to create “word clouds” which can be displayed and utilized for a pre-reading activity. These word clouds display all of the words from the text in a manner such that the most-frequently used words will appear larger than the less-frequent words. This helps to highlight main ideas or important vocabulary.

Objectives

Activate background knowledge

Increase vocabulary awareness

Practice predicting

Materials
Optional printouts

Level
All

Time Needed
5-10 minutes prep 5-10 minutes in-class activity

Preparation
1. Go to http://www.wordle.net/ . Click “create,” then copy and paste the text of the class reading. The website will generate a “word cloud” picture. If desired, the word cloud can be customized to a font of your choice.

2. If you intend to project the word cloud in class, then save a screen grab of the word cloud. If you intend to hand out copies, then print.

Procedures
1. Project or hand out copies of the word cloud. Explain to students that the largest words are the words which appear most frequently in the text they are going to read. Some pre-reading questions might include:

What do you think the topic of this reading will be?

What will the main ideas be?

Which words are new? Are there words you have seen before but you don’t know what they mean?

2. If there are unknown words, explain them. It may be useful to first ask if any students know the meaning and can explain the words.

Note
Some of the script fonts on the website may be illegible to international students who have never learned to read cursive.